Well, shit. It’s karaoke night.

Honestly, that stuff in the afternoon at the river left us all with a bad taste in our mouths. Lingering annoyance, mostly, and my own personal wish that I could’ve handled the situation better. Problem was that I didn’t know what that ‘better’ looked like. Should I have been more aggressive? Should I have outright told the guy to fuck off? I didn’t know.

I wasn’t the only one still thinking about it, either. After we went back to the cabin to shower, Diana sat with me on the sofa and clung to me without saying a word. I guess Frey took my curiosity of what she was thinking and decided to give me the answer.

{I have to get better at pushing them away. I don’t want to worry him. What else could I have done, though?}

Right? She was pretty damn clear about it. Honestly, I didn’t believe that type of people existed in the first place, but I guess I was wrong.

Mila came out of the bathroom, fully dressed and drying her hair with a towel. Noelle was getting ready to go in next, but before that, “Hey, I was thinking. Why don’t we hit the bar tonight? Oliver will start working at one soon, so it’ll be a good chance for him to see things in action. Also, I need a drink.”

“Same,” Grace agreed.

“Same,” Diana said, nodding.

I glanced at Alice, Noelle and Sarah. They smiled.

“Well, we’re going to the bar tonight.”

“Gonna have to change, then,” Sarah said, sighing and looking down at her legs. “Can’t go there wearing dolphin shorts…”

We all had to get changed into something a bit more presentable, this time meaning shirts, jeans, light sweaters, stuff like that. We went to the bar in the main building after having dinner, at about 9:00 pm. Then, when we got there, we found a small blackboard at the entrance with a message written in colored chalk that froze my bones.

-Saturday Happy Hour! 2x1 on selected drinks from 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm! Karaoke night with open mic! Everyone’s invited to join!-

“Hey! Karaoke night!” Mila beamed.

“I’m an awful singer and you know that, Mila,” Alice said.

“I’m down, but I’m not going in alone,” Sarah said.

Grace turned to Noelle. “Can you sing?”

“Um… A little?” Noelle said bashfully.

“Don’t listen to her lies,” Alice said. “I’ve heard her sign before. She’s good!”

“I’ll consider singing after I’m three cups in, not before,” Diana said.

The girls went in before I did, and to be honest, I didn’t know what to think about the fact that they didn’t ask me or tried to convince me to sing.

We went into the bar and found ourselves a large table. This one wasn’t at all like the one at Pleasure Lake Hotel. That one was small, with only chairs at the counter and a few tables. This one was bigger, brighter, more like a restaurant.

I looked around as we sat down, looking for familiar faces and finding none, much to my relief. Mr. Carlos and his family could be here, which could be a little awkward but nothing terrible. Didn’t see the guy from the afternoon, either, which was a much bigger relief.

“The happy hour starts in 20 minutes,” Grace said, frowning as she looked at the menu on her phone, having scanned it on the code on the table.

“The menu isn’t very varied,” Diana said. “Big selection of beers and wines, but not many cocktails.”

“They don’t have mudslides…” Noelle lamented.

“Or grasshoppers,” I joined her.

“I’ll just have a beer,” Sarah said. “Someone here has to be the man of the table.”

“Thanks, I’ll leave that to you,” I told her, not falling for the taunt.

“Why don’t you try an Irish Coffee, dear? Whiskey, coffee, brown-sugar syrup and cream. I think you’ll like it,” Diana suggested.

“Do you think Maria could get away with serving that at the coffee shop?” Alice asked.

“I’m not sure. I’ve seen other coffee shops serve it, but they could just have a liquor license. Maria definitely doesn’t.”

“And since at least 70% of her clients are high school students, it’s probably not worth the effort and money to get one,” Grace said.

“I’ll have a Mojito,” Mila said. “I’m craving something a bit sour.”

“I think I’ll just go with wine,” Noelle said.

“I’ll join you there. Should we buy a bottle, then?” Alice asked.

“You know, I think I’ll have a beer, too. It’s been a while,” Grace said.

“And what will you have?” I asked Diana.

“I’m thinking,” she said, furrowing her brow. “I had a Martini yesterday, so today… An Old Fashioned. Did you know that the Old Fashioned is one of the earliest drinks to be known as a cocktail? It dates back to the early 1800’s, and the stories about it are all over the place, but the name comes from cocktail culture growing a lot by the mid 1800’s, so people started calling this simpler, older cocktail an ‘Old Fashioned.’

I swallowed hard, feeling a bit nervous. “Is that the kind of stuff you need to know as a bartender or it’s just trivia?”

“A bit of both but mostly the former. I’ve told you before that cocktail culture can get a bit snobbish, so some customers like to test their bartenders. But knowing the history of the drinks you’re making serves as proof that you know what you’re doing, so I’m gonna have you study a lot.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

A waiter came to take our order and came back some 10 minutes later with all our drinks. Little by little, the bar began to fill up. People came in different groups or as couples, but it was good that we arrived when we did because all the tables got taken.

“Looks like karaoke night is pretty popular,” Mila said.

I took a sip of my Irish Coffee and ended up really liking it. Yeah, wasn’t that sweet, but the familiar taste of coffee was enhanced with the light punch that the whiskey gave it.

The same waiter came over to our table again and gave us a leaflet. “If you want to participate in the karaoke, scan the code here, enter the webpage and select a song with your name. We’ll call your name before the song starts and you can go over to the stage.”

He pointed to a corner of the bar that had the mic, speakers, a screen in front of the mic and another against the wall, lit by the projector. He left after that and went to give a leaflet to another table.

“Okay, so what are we singing?” Mila asked.

I felt my stomach turn from nerves.

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